The Arcade Majong Public Shame Part II Electric Boogaloo

Thought it couldn't get worst than NSFW mahjong moony man? It can't. But this, this is pretty damn close. Here, a gentleman is standing and up and stretching in front of a mahjong game. Remember it's okay to enjoy yourself in Japanese game centers, just don't enjoy yourself in Japanese game centers.

Many thanks to Luke for his Pointing Fish skills! The unfished pic is in the link below and not as bad as you think — whatever that means! Still, it's both a little NSFW and a lotta unsettling.
Mahjong Game Undressing Number 2 [Hatimaki]

The XBLA version of Ikaruga is a horrible port.
This isn't Ikaruga, this is Ikaruga LOL.

Sexy mahjong games. Your more discriminating Japanese arcades typically have a couple cabinets that feature mahjong ladies in various states of undress. Thrilling stuff! Some people find these games a tad too thrilling, a tad too titillating, so do beware if you plan on hitting the risky jump. NSFW carpenter's smile ahead! You've been warned, so don't go complaining.

Capcom's official Japanese Street Fighter IV site has new screenies of Lucha Libre wrestler and gourmet cook El Fuerte. Check them out in the gallery below. Delicious!

Street Fighter IV [Capcom]

Hooray! This April, The King of Fighters XII is getting its first official play test in Japan. As pointed out in Famitsu, it's traditional 3 vs. 3 team match-ups. Also, the screen's edge forms a hard barrier that players will have to balance. What's more, attacks can cancel each other and there's a Guard Attack system that lets players switch from offensive to defensive modes on the fly. SNK says that the game system had gotten too complex and they were aiming showing that would be more approachable and put emphasis on "reading the opponent's mind." Famitsu scans below — which do the 100 percent hand drawn game no justice whatsoever.

KOFXII Info [mmcafe via Arcade Renaissance]

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You Can Buy Street Fighter IV for $23,000 [Update]

Street Fighter IV doesn't have a street date yet, but we're pretty sure of two things: 1). It will be released in arcades before on consoles. 2). It will be released in Japanese arcades before in Western arcades. We could be wrong! We're just guessing! But, just in case, we're dead right and just in case you can't wait, there's this: A pre-order for the Japanese arcade cabinet. It'll set you back around ¥2,394,000 yen (US$23,307). Pre-orders start this March, and it's expected to go on sale this August.

Eds Note: Capcom got in touch with us, letting us know that this is actually 2 pairs of dedicated head-to-head style Japanese cabinets (a total of four cabinets). So, it's only US$5,750. Much cheaper!

Order Here [Tops-Game via Danny Choo]

When SNK showed off The King of Fighters XII at arcade show AOU in Japan and industry event GDC in San Francisco, the unanimous reply was: Nice cell shading. That, or it's "just" hi-res 2D. Thing is, that's totally incorrect. And for SNK, who's been working on the game for the past three years, frustrating! Today, I checked out the game's latest build at SNK's Osaka office and saw a few stages that haven't been revealed. Screens weren't available, but there was a French stage, complete with fat, rich women and an Egyptian one that had loyal subjects worshiping before the Pharaoh. Colorful stuff and classic SNK. The company set out to make the ultimate 2D fighter — unparalleled by anything else out there, attempting not only to raise the bar, but snap it in half. KOFXII producer Masaaki Kukino tells Kotaku:

The game is one hundred percent hand drawn. There is zero cell shading in The King of Fighters XII.

What Does SNK Think of Street Fighter IV?

Street Fighter IV... I saw it at the AOU 2008 show... I was impressed. It's very similar to King of Fighters in that we're trying to do something new with the franchise.

For those who didn't attend AOU 2008 today in Chiba, here's a smorgasbord of pics taken by Jean Snow and Witzbold. Stand out stuff like eagerly awaited SFIV, Square Enix's card game Lord of Vermilion, Cave's shooter DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu and Konami's new music game Jubeat — among others. Man, new DoDonPachi, new Street Fighter, new Konami music game, new The King of Fighters. Who was saying Japanese arcades were dying?

Quick Street Fighter IV Hands-on Impressions

Street Fighter IV is playable. Today, the wait at the AOU arcade show hit 90 minutes to play the game hit 90 minutes. Keep in mind: This is on the business day. So, what's it like? Kotaku buddy Jean Snow was at AOU today and checked it out — even winning a perfect battle. Briefly, Jean tells us:

Controls were what you would expect from the game, nice and tight. But the graphics, oh man, they look soooooo nice! The backgrounds are incredibly detailed. If you look at them, you noticed all sorts of nice things. Like some letters were falling off a sign after a big attack. The entire game is an absolutely stunning package. You play on a widescreen high-res screen, and all the characters were beautifully rendered. Even the chest hair on the wrestler guy Zangief looked nice! It's one of the most beautiful, complete fighters I've seen. Ever.

[Thanks, Jean!]

Here we go! This appears to be the first pictures from the Japanese arcade AOU 2008 show floor. A lot of the pre-opening pics seem taken by Blurry McBlur. There are snaps of exhibits for Arcana Heart 2, DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu and Square Enix's Lord of Vermilion. More to come.

AOU Pics [AM-Net via Arcade Renaissance]

First The King of Fighters XII Trailer [Updated]

Hit the jump for a higher quality clip. Do it!

Arcade Gaming Making A Comeback

I. Love. Arcades. Seems I'm not alone! Forbes has a short piece about the retro arcade revival going on in the States. While some Americans are content to play retro titles on emulators and whatnot, there is a growing number of gamers who want a realer experience. And with the US arcade scene limping along, some are getting their gaming fix by purchasing retro game cabinets for home use. Says Rick Kirby of coin-op supplier Betson Enterprise:

The last few years, we've seen an all-time high in sales of machines for home use... The buyers of these machines are families, husbands and wives who grew up playing the games in the arcades and today want them for their game rooms.

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